Salman Rushdie, author of the controversial The Satanic Verses, is likely to address the Jaipur Literature Festival via video-link on Tuesday, the organisers said, days after he cancelled his visit over security fears.
"We are trying to arrange a video address tomorrow (Tuesday)
afternoon. But we are yet to decide on the exact time," Sanjoy Roy, organiser of the festival and managing director of Teamwork Production, said Monday.

Rushdie is likely to address the festival to coincide with an aborted session, "Midnight's Child", which was to host the writer. But the session was dropped from the festival roster.

On Januray 20, when Salman Rushdie declared that he would not be there to attend Jaipur Literature Fest in India, he also had tweeted about the video conferencing.

"Very sad not to be at Jaipur. I was told Bombay mafia don issued weapons to two hitmen to 'eliminate' me. Will do video link instead. Damn," Rushdie tweeted on January 20.

However, a TV report on Monday quoted Rajasthan home minister saying Salman Rushdie's video conferencing in the Jaipur Literature Festival cannot be allowed unless the author commits in advance to making no reference to his book, The Satanic Verses.

Two days after cancelling his visit to the Jaipur Literature Festival citing intelligence inputs on a threat to his life, writer Salman Rushdie on Sunday accused the Rajasthan Police of having concocted the threat to keep him away from the event.

"I've investigated and believe that I was indeed led to. I am outraged and very angry," Rushdie had posted on microblogging site Twitter, reacting to reports that police had invented a plot to stymie his visit.

The Booker Prize winner had decidec not to attend the event, saying "paid assassins from the Mumbai underworld were planning to kill him."